Why Do Americans Say "Erb" Not "Herb"? (2024)

FAQs

Why Do Americans Say "Erb" Not "Herb"? ›

Answer. Answer: The Americans have picked this up from Norman- French. "Herb" is a word that would have been very commonly used by the French, so that is why it would have stuck, as oppose to other words in the American dialect such as "helicopter."

The British pronunciation is "Herbs" with an "H" while American pronunciation is "erbs" without the "H." Quite simple, eh? Just like this simple vinaigrette recipe to go with your herb salad. "Herb" or "erb," it's really your choice.

The American english pronunciation is typically erbs. That's how I've always heard it pronounced. My English in-laws say: herbs. The word is 'borrowed' from the French, by the way, who employ the silent H.

Originally Answered: Why do Americans pronounce 'herbs' 'erbs'? It came to English via the French word 'erbe' from the Latin 'herba', and was pronounced with the Latin silent 'H'. In the 19th century, the British started pronouncing things as they were spelled, adding the vocalized 'H'.

Herb, a slang term for marijuana.

Banana plants are not trees. They are, in fact, large herbs, as they do not have a persistent or woody stem. Although a banana plant has no wooden trunk, it can reach heights of as much as 40 feet, though, making it one of the tallest herbs grown on Earth.

The Webster's Dictionary's entry likely caused the noticeable shift in the early 1900s towards the word Aluminum in the United States, which culminated when the American Chemical Society officially adopted that spelling, separating it from the way the British spell it.

This has to do with the fact that in the Irish language a consonant followed in writing by the letter “h” is pronounced as what is known as a spirant, that is to say with a continuous expulsion of breath.

It is 'a herb' when you pronounce it as hurb and 'an herb' when you pronounce it as urb. Remember the correct version of the rule. It's the sound, not the letter. So a word like 'union' uses a, not an.

Latin had an H sound that disappeared from its modern… descendants (French, Italian, etc.), but because spelling is often conservative, in many European languages, H is written even though it isn't pronounced. This is also true of lots of other letters, especially in English and French.

Is the H silent in herbs in Canada? ›

The word “herb” is pronounced with a bit of French influence. In French, “h” is a silent letter, and we follow that convention in English for the words “herb” and “hour.” So the “h” didn't go anywhere. But we don't pronounce it any more than we pronounce the “p” in “psychology” or the “k” in “knee.”

Coriander + Cilantro = Ciliander The British know this Mediterranean herb as coriander, but the Americans know it as cilantro, together we get ciliander. Cilantro is also the term used by the Spanish. While generally both terms refer to the same food product, there is a difference.